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Why is the L-88 hood scoop out of style?

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  • Why is the L-88 hood scoop out of style?

    It seems that you can't throw a dead cat without hitting a "cowl" hood scoop.

    Most are rip-offs of the Z/28-style cowl (reprised OEM in various forms on later Mustangs in 1979, 1995 and 2010)

    But back in the day, the most stylish of the "cowls" was the L-88



    In its original application, the L-88 featured not only a cowl inlet but a functional radiator "hot air" outlet. So arguably, the L-88 is a more functional design than the Z/Mustang cowl.

    So why is the L-88 cowl out of style?
    Last edited by Monster; January 28, 2013, 10:34 AM. Reason: fixed image code :)

  • #2

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    • #3
      Taking a stab here..... because it's ugly?
      Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
      1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
      1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
      1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
      1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
      1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

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      • #4
        Limited appeal. The only three cars I know can pull it off:
        * Early Vega
        * 2nd Gen Camaro, esp. 70-73
        * 68-72 Corvette

        The Cowl scoop is like the early 80's 5.0 scoop...it's a universal shape that fits most bodies.
        Editor-at-Large at...well, here, of course!

        "Remy-Z, you've outdone yourself again, I thought a Mirada was the icing on the cake of rodding, but this Imperial is the spread of little 99-cent candy letters spelling out "EAT ME" on top of that cake."

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        • #5
          Agreed, I dont think it is out of style...its the simple fact that there is a limited number of cars that wont look stupid with it mounted.
          If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

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          • #6
            And also the fact,that it isnt functional.The center part,should have been mounted on the carb.

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            • #7





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              • #8
                Originally posted by Blazerteam View Post
                And also the fact,that it isnt functional.The center part,should have been mounted on the carb.

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                • #9
                  I would have to say that how good a hood scoop looks on a particular car is kind-of a subjective thing. Frankly, I think none of them are exactly beautiful, this said as a guy who owns four cars with "hood scoops" or at-least vented bubbles: '67 Camaro with the usual Z-28 thing, '70 SS El Camino w/ "Cowl Induction", '72 Corvette BB with the low-rise version of the L-88 hood used on big-block and LT-1 small-block cars, and the huge fiberglass thing on the Challenger which is there because it needs to be and was brought back all the way to the windshield in an attempt to make it less-ugly.

                  With the Corvette, anybody who in '68-'72 stepped up to pay big extra bucks for a seven-hundred-pound motor in a "sports car" was expecting some kind of different hood to show the guys on the boulevard and got the low-rise bubble thing with fake chrome vents in the front which was still to low to clear anything but the lowest-possible-rise intake, a dual-plane iron piece with the lower plane ports making a near-impossible dip through the lifter valley before swooping up againg to barely make the cylinder port. If you really couldn't stand running a manifold that would do that, and of-course the L-88 engineers could not, then there was going to have to be a whole 'nother hood again to clear it 'cause the normal engine bay in a 'Vette is about as low as you can get and still have valve covers and an alternator. The answer was not to add yet another stlye of hood again but rather to just increase the height of the standard BB piece, and there it was...the L-88 hood.

                  Well, that was just so ultimate at the time, that they got popular on everything else too. My first BB El Camino had a huge wavy shuddering fiberglass hood with one courtesy the former owner, and I saw them on Pontiacs and Fords and Mopars back in the day too. By the early '80s, most people didn't even know it had been a Chevy design anymore...an L-88 hood on an AMX, why not?

                  Then like Torque-Thrust wheels, hood tachs, slot-mags and California Horned Toads, they had all gotten so common that no one noticed when they disappeard.

                  Torque-Thrusts are back with a vengeance (really, way-too-much), L-88 hoods are not, and horny-toads have been spotted. Z-28 hoods never left and are now the Chevy design you see on Mustangs and whatever else, sometimes in expensively-tooled steel. I like Z-28 hoods and there is a big "fake" one on my Camaro that also has Torque-Thrusts, but jeez, those are really the next thing that needs to disappear for awhile. I mean...I'll always have one myself, but could everybody else just lay off a little while? The Corvette, meanwhile, also has it's low-rise version of the L-88, and that awful iron intake manifold.

                  ...

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Loren View Post
                    I would have to say that how good a hood scoop looks on a particular car is kind-of a subjective thing.
                    Good observations, Loren!

                    NEW QUESTION: What's the best looking hood scoop? And what's the worst?





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                    • #11
                      I just figured that the lake you got in the front portion turned everyone off eventually.
                      Previously HoosierL98GTA

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by JOES66FURY View Post
                        Agreed, I dont think it is out of style...its the simple fact that there is a limited number of cars that wont look stupid with it mounted.
                        Yep
                        Thom

                        "The object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off..."

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                        • #13
                          There shouldn't be a "lake" if the front portion is venting the radiator with proper drains.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by The Outsider View Post
                            Good observations, Loren!

                            NEW QUESTION: What's the best looking hood scoop? And what's the worst?







                            Tear drop scoop on any Ford/Mercury back in the day was pretty cool.
                            Thom

                            "The object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off..."

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                            • #15
                              Who said it's out of style? Thank God it's not over done like the Z cowl hood and polished torque thrusts. It allows those with more imagination to use the L-88 hood on a more interesting build
                              STUGOTS

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